Internet of Things (IoT) devices include objects with embedded electronics, software, sensors, as well as connectivity that enable the objects to exchange information with an operator, a manufacturer, a user, and/or other connected objects. IoT devices are typically small and are frequently battery powered. As an example, IoT devices used in sensing operations (e.g., weather, fire, security, health, automotive, and so on) are expected to operate for years without battery replacement or user intervention. Therefore, battery life is an important consideration.
Although these IoT devices are connected, their connectivity may be restricted to short range technologies, such as PC5, BlueTooth (BT), device-to-device (D2D), Proximity Services (ProSe), and so on, in order to help minimize power consumption. These short range technologies may be used to connect IoT devices to relay nodes that have long-range connectivity. In the future, devices such as cellular phones that have long-range connectivity may also be extensively used as remote devices connected to relay nodes, since they may benefit from potentially increased spectrum availability associated with short range technologies. Furthermore, even when such devices support long-range connectivity, they may benefit substantially from reduced power consumption if they can avoid using this long-range connectivity and instead rely on short-range communication with a relay node.